For those who are unaware of who Frank McAvennie is, he is a former Celtic striker and controversial public figure.

McAvennie has this week called for politics to stay out of football, a view which I entirely share. This has emerged in the wake of last season’s fiery old firm encounter which saw flash points including 3 red cards and confrontation between opposing coaches on the touchline. Stating that this allows the “PC Brigade” to have their say in football, he has slammed the Scottish Government for becoming involved after calling a government summit to deal with the issues surrounding the game.

In a world in which political correctness has officially gone mad, I would love to see football remain a traditional aspect of our society where our passion for the game is still visible for the world to see. Where tempers flare too far, I believe the SFA and clubs have a responsibility to discipline players, coaches and fans for inappropriate conduct, as opposed to situations being blown out of proportion by the government.

I am delighted to have finally heard Frank McAvennie say something I agree with so entirely.

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5 Responses

Yeah he has a point. You could say the only reason the politicians got involved was just for the attention they would receive. I can remember Old Firm games from a few years back which were arguably just as bad, but the politicians never once got themselves involved. Is it just a coincidence that Alex Salmond chose to speak out about sectarianism just a few weeks before the Scottish Government election?

Completely agree with you. I can remember that on the weekend of the now infamous “shame game” there was a match between Liverpool and Manchester United which was probably even worse than the Old Firm. It also smacks of hypocrisy for the current Scottish Government to make grand gestures of attempting to end the bigotry that blights our national game while at the same time almost allowing the government funded, anti-sectarian charity, Nil By Mouth, to go bankrupt last year.

I agree with McAvennie’s comments in this case, however he too has a responsibility being a former Celtic player and he did not help matters by visiting a pub in Dublin owned by Anthony Stokes’ father, famous for having a negative banner about the Queen’s visit to Ireland, and being caught on video engaging in IRA songs.

I am not a supporter of many of Frank McAvennie’s countless public mis-demeaners, however I could not help but appreciate and agree with his comments through last week. As I said at the bottom of my piece, it is refreshing to finally be able to agree with him on something.